Stereotyping the Homeless

A business owner in Hickory (who obviously isn't doing well since he/she has all this time to take photographs of people walking outside) composed this email to the Captain, Patrol Division Commander of Hickory (Hickory Police):

There has been a daily ongoing problem with people crossing over Hwy 127 between 1st and 2nd Ave, (near All-Glass) without benefit of using either crosswalk, at the traffic signals. I’m fairly confident that the majority of these people, are ‘homeless’, walking to over Christian Ministry on 1st Ave to get something to eat. Judging by the direction they are coming from, I feel they are most likely staying over at the Salvation Army on LR Blvd. I have witnessed, on several occasions, several of these people nearly struck by traffic traveling on Hwy 127. Sooner or later this will occur.

First of all let me ask: What makes these particular persons crossing the street “homeless?”

The Salvation Army Shelter of Hope is .9 miles from All Glass.The photographer cannot know where these people are coming from or going to.

People go to The Hickory Soup Kitchen for lunch, not CCM (Cooperative Christian Ministries). CCM has a Food Pantry for those in need, however you get much more food than any of these persons could carry on their own. I carry the food I get from the CCM Food Pantry home by tying recyclable shopping bags to my bike handlebars and I walk my bike home.

Most people that go to CCM and The Hickory Soup Kitchen are NOT homeless.

The  Hickory Soup Kitchen

Sometimes the cross walks aren't as safe as you hope. Monday, January 14^th I was walking my bike home from CCM with bags of food tied to the handlebars. I was walking down 2nd Av SE toward Tate Blvd., crossing over 127. The sign showed ‘walk.’ It was a good thing I looked at the street signal because it was red. If I would have walked when the pedestrian sign said to, I would have been hit. 127 is a busy street. The signal on the other side of the street was working fine.

There are many pedestrian signals in Hickory that show a man either walking or standing. The ‘don’t walk’, or standing picture of the man is supposed to have a red background but many signals are so worn that even the “don’t walk” signal has a clear background just like the “walk signal.” This can be confusing to people. Many of the signals in Hickory do not have “walk” and “don’t walk” lettering on them.

I tend to get defensive when people point the homeless out to be of a particular problem in the community. Take time to know the people in your community. You may be surprised who walks down the streets of Hickory.